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Plenary, 16 Dec 2004

16 Dec 2004 · S2 · Plenary

Item of business

Tourism

Ballance, Chris Green South of Scotland Watch on SPTV

My point is that the tourism that we should support is tourism that does not ruin the area on which it is imposed. For that community, their track will become tarmac roads, their view of the milky way will become street lights and their silence will be ruined. I would not put such a large development seven miles down a single-track road and I would certainly not do that in the name of tourism. That sort of tourist development will ruin that which attracts tourists there in the first place. The Executive's approach in the motion—grow tourism at any price; growth is the only goal—is deeply wrong.

Tourism can bring many benefits. It is a huge employer; it employs more people than the oil, whisky and gas industries combined. I mention the very successful Cream o' Galloway in my region, which makes my favourite ice cream. Cream o' Galloway won the 2004 thistle award for tourism and the environment and has also been awarded a gold award by the green tourism business scheme. It has used tourism—agri-tourism—to sustain a small dairy herd, which would otherwise have been impossible given the current price paid for milk by the supermarkets. That is a fine example of sustainable tourism.

Our approach to tourism growth must be strategic. We must aim to make tourism businesses more viable by aiming for a more even spread of visitors throughout the year. We must encourage businesses to join the green tourism business scheme. VisitScotland must do more to promote the scheme and should support the scheme's call to develop its website in order to promote itself more effectively.

The green tourism business scheme today asked me to ask the minister whether she will lobby the Cabinet Office in London to ensure that it publicises the fact that the G8 summit will take place in a hotel that is a member of the GTBS organisation. Will the minister please do that?

Greater investment in people, skills and training is required in order to maximise the value of tourism. We need a clearer understanding of the impacts of tourism, greater involvement of communities in tourism planning and a public transport system that encourages tourists to use it. That should be the Executive's strategy.

Unfortunately, what we currently have instead is an extremely undignified row between the chief executive of VisitScotland and the area tourist boards. The row erupted during meetings of the Enterprise and Culture Committee. The area tourist boards complained of "centralised and hierarchical" management, "lack of representation", a "lack of accountability", a "lack of clarity" and warned of a "crisis in waiting". Philip Riddle called the area tourist boards "factually wrong". That claim is denied in an e-mail, to which Mike Watson referred earlier, from an area tourist board chief executive, who wishes to remain anonymous in order to retain his job.

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Plenary, 16 Dec 2004

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